Drink and Get Drunk, anyone?

Wow, I don't Drink: that's one thing.
Let alone get Drunk: that's another thing.
I found it intriguing to see all of those kitchen wares spread
all over the place, some were in their place: I presumed.
Some were out of place: If I was not mistaken.
To see them just barely lay there gave me an idea of
taking a chance of using one of those to strike...
a pose.
Got it right there...
as if a jar of makkeolli* gushing through my throat
swashing away...
the heat of thirstiness....
(wait: it's Autumn)..
Anyway...it was a mere pose
of someone narcissistic
like me...
(wait: are you?)
* Makgeolli, aslo known as Makkoli or Makuly (takju) ( and referred to in English as 'Korean rice wine'), is an alcoholic beverage native to Korea. It is made from a mixture of wheat and rice which gives it a milky, off-white color, and sweetness.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makgeolli) for further reference.

South Pole, anyone?

Yes, it is easy to find South Pole 남극점. At least the direction is clear should we go there from Suwon. Yes, this road sign stood majestically visible at the entrance towards the Suwon palace. I wonder why someone bothered putting it here in the first place.

The funny thing is that....if South Pole is into that direction, why is it that Sydney is any different?

I thought they were in the same direction....hmmmmmm

Red Cho-Cho Train @ Suwon Haenggung

red choo-choo train...

It was after lunch time.
Since we had about 30 minutes or so to stroll around the area before continuing our journey, I asked Emmi to take a look at the area we did not yet cover in the first place.

 to soothe Emmi's feeling ...

Gosh, we wished that we had gone this earlier since we found this tourist-train that would take us for a 20-minute ride around the hill to see the whole city of Suwon from up above. Well, we had barely 15 minutes left before departure. So, it was unfortunate that we could not take a ride on the red train. Emmi, especially, was a bit sad since--judging from the look on her face--she really wanted to take a ride on it. Instead, I just asked her to sit on a seat of the train for a pose. It did work on her, for a change.^^

Suwon Haenggung or 수원 행궁

Joseon Dynasty Guards

I went there with a bunch of our friends from HUFS International Students Association (ISO). Our ISO has been actively inviting and preparing cool stuffs and programs for us--foreign students--to experience Korea in ways beyond our imagination. I mean: They do all the stuffs of preparing numerous arrays of activities that suit our interests. One of them is this one: a cultural trip to Korean heritages.
So, on October 29, 2011 we went to Suwon Haegung which is said to be the best place to see a detached palace architecture of Joseon Dynasty.

If other do it, why don't we?^^

I learned a bit about this architecture which was famous for being the filming location of the phenomenal Dae Jang Geum TV drama--which stirred lots of international interest in Korean past.
=> Oh, that was the reason as to why I saw lots of tourists from Japan, Thailand, China, and other countries, too -- I supposed--who were visiting this palace.

Arrays of Daejanggeum's costumes
from child to adulthood

Ok, this palace was established around Mount Paldalsan under the authority of King Jeongjo(?) hmmm I hope I spelled it right:). It was used as a Suwon government office and a temporary residence or palace for dignitaries I supposed. Oh, let's see when it was built: oh, it was in 1780s or 1790s. Not sure. Gosh, I should have listened or known it. Oh, well.
Anyway, I just came to realize that it was still relatively intact and well preserved.
Of course, it came into existence as an exhibit today thanks to the rigorous Korean government in re-enacting the real-life back then.
Lots of guys dressed in cloaks and olden days' Joseon Dynasty's soldiers greeted all the guests or visitors to the palace...and what's more interesting was that we could take pics with them.



And..that was exactly that drew the flocks of people to see and taste it--I guess.
Actually, there was supposed to be a cultural performance there, but since it was raining ....it was cancelled. too bad, though.

whos' there?

the wall surrounding the palace

So, instead, we went to see the back of the palace and found ourselves trapped within the walls surrounding the palace. We wanted to go up the hills, but instead we were just circling around the area since it was dead-locked. We did not find any way out. So, we might as well take some pictures.
The chilly windy Autumn set in.
It was a nice trip, except for the chilling Autumn. So much so, I did enjoy it all the way.^^

Paint Ball War

Would the real-war would give time
for its soldier to take a pose, eh?

The first time ever for me. Well, the first thing that came up to my mind when I read an announcement about it was ....that...hmm.....it would be worth to try. Oh, well.
It was indeed, really.
How would I miss such a hilariously fun time 'killing' and 'shooting' our own friends in the real-field and war-like   'jungles' ^^ (chuckles).
I thought that I might just quit the stance when I first got a chance to listen to the instructor of the 'game' on how to's and what's not to's during an orientation. It sounded so tempting and dangerous at the same time. But, I might as well do it since I was there all along. I may have regretted it had I not tried it on.
Yep, it was true.
I was glad that I decided to play in the game.

bla-bla-bla safety precautions

We arrived in a remote area I did not know where. ^^ But, I am sure that it was still in the vicinity of Suwon.
There were around 60 of us; divided into two groups: Asian guys with mostly European girls (group B) VS European guys with mostly Asian girls (group A).
I did not know what in the world should we be divided into such a criteria....Oh, swell.....it did not bother us.

....
Off we went to change our clothes. The first impression: OK. got to do it. Looked so fun.

action!!! see the smoke?

The helmet: cool. the guns: cool, only to find that they were in different sizes for girls and boys. Oh, swell. I got mine which was a bit heavy, actually.^^
The trousers: hmmm that green Army-look type trousers....which were too big for me^^
But wait: there were some restrictions and precautions that we must take heed of since we did not want to injure others or let alone ourselves simply out of stupidity of -- say -- not locking the safety pin when taking a rest:) or the bullets just blow us off.^^ WHaat? : well, that was what the instructor said..:(
...
Off we started the games.

hmmm.....where are my friends?

We loaded each of our guns with yellow bullets made out gelatin. They were as big as usual marbles. Look so intimidatingly cute but, what if they hit us?
IT TURNED OUT to be so painful. especially when it hurt our arms or legs.

serious-looking Jobirson

It would not be a big problem should the bullets hit our helmet for they would easily melted, dissolved, or splashed into colorful arrays of colors^^. Mostly, yellow and blue.
I wouldn't imagine them being red!!
Oh, the sound of the speeding bullets spreading around the 'jungle' was ear-splitting though actually it was just a pop with a hissing sound. I would not imagine what it would be like in the real wars. Guess, never want to get one of those.
The four-round game lasted for about 2 hours. An exhausting game, but it was really fun, especially for me: the first timer.
Once again, was it worth-it? Oh, yeah.

Halloween again

Yes, it was another Halloween in campus. Only this time, it was held by the English classes. I was passing by the corridors of FLEX center at my campus when I saw a commotion.







I dropped by to take a look at what the fuzz was going on there. It turned out to be the Halloween party or costume contest where students showed their best (read: worst) look ever.^^

It was fun to see that each class was designed differently in a such a way that anyone interested in coming in would be so tantalizingly intrigued by the idea of having to taste and drop by at each room....which I did not have time to do.

I kinda like it, though.

Instead, I was taking some snapshots of what they were doing today. Oct. 28,2011. The day when my midterm exam just passed us by^^

Korean Language Mid Term Exam

It's been two months since I became a student again.^^.
I felt the sense of jittery and restless prior to taking the exam.
Guess, that was what my fellow students back home might have felt whenever they were preparing for any test.
So, being in a Korean class might not seem so challenging for some. But, it was for me. And it is.
I never thought that vocabulary is so strenuously distressing in the first place.
I did not know what to do with the bombardment of newly induced vocabularies every day. I said: Every Day. Yes, I felt like being choked up.
I got to swallow, gulp, chew, lick, smear, sense, feel the new senses of vocabularies.
Not to mention the seemingly out-of-place idioms that adorn the Korean language.
Well, all of these are challenges too interesting to overlook^^
So, I might as well fight for it.
And..that was the simple reason as to why I was struggling and keeping myself awoke late until  the wee morning to study (or: memorizing) the patterns and other related trivia.
I thought that the Reading section was so difficult that I used most of my time being in the room.......learning.
Then, this morning, it turned out that Reading was ok, but...on the other around, Listening and Structure were way too out of imagination for me. Sure, I did it quite well, to some extent.
I came out of the exam room with a smile on my face; hinting that I did it quite well. At least to the point of where I was going.

Open House: Come on in, Girls....into my room^^:)

Open House at my dormitory was a bit shocking for me since it was not a good timing. I was preparing for the midterm when the male dormitory was packed with the female fellows of my friends who were using their best chance of looking or peeping into the world of male dormitory. Some of my friends did not heed the flow of girls passing by at the corridors, and neither did I. I just let my clothes hanging on the corridors' racks. Well, I saw that none of the boys did change the way their rooms looked. And neither did I.
I was busy preparing for the exam the following day when I overheard lots of laughter outside my room. It was a bit different situation where most of the nights or days, I barely heard any noises over the corridors.
Well, irrespective of the fact that I may find it distracting, at some point, I found it cool, too. Eh?
First thing first, I found it out of any ordinary days in the dorm.
Actually, I was planning of inviting my friends over to my room so as to let them know what it may look and feel to live in a dorm. But, I did not find it a good idea. Well, I would've invited them over, had it be held on another day^^
Oh, an interesting thing occurred when the time limit for any visitors was setting in. I remembered the management team announced or sort of reminded about the curfew or deadline for any visitors should they be still inside the room. It was broadcasting both in English and Korean.

Thought to ponder: I wonder if any boys came to the female dorm at that day.^^
I bet some did.
* the title of my blog did not suggest any other meaning, but ....the simple fact that some female fellows did have curiosity about our male dorm.^^.
It was a great time, though.

Welcoming Dinner @ Seoul Olympic Parktel

then....

Off we went to Olympic Park where Seoul Summer Olympic was held back then in 1988.

I went there to attend the welcoming dinner held for the participants of PAS (Pacific Asia Society) gathering at Seoul Olympic Parktel. This time around, as many as 20 students from 10 countries (?) participated in the program. 

I got a great dinner there.

^^

One thing for sure, I met the professors and the dignitaries from PAS and my students.

It was indeed a great time to reflect to.

HUFS & Kyunghee University

Kyunghee Univ.

This time around, I got no other options but to see my own campus (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) and my neighboring campus ( Kyunghee University). What I meant twas that....I got to take my friend, Eddo, who came all the way down from Sookmyung Women's University to visit me.
He told me that he wanted to come to my campus and see what it had to offer for him.
I took him to take around the campus for a while until we were so freezing that we decided to have some chocolate and coffee at Paris Baguette just around the corner.

HUFS slogan

awkward pose in front of HUFS main building

---
We took some pictures at HUFS and then we went to Kyunghee's famous landmark, i.e. the church(?) that the university built.

Kyunghee Univ.

Since it was a bit late in the afternoon, and what's worse...my smartphone was not that smart in capturing the moment. I did turn on the flash but it did not help at all.^^

another angle of the univ.

So, we might as well use the camera.
---Then
off we went to a Smartphone shop where I bought mine. My friend was interested in buying the new one.
it's a 4G LG U+ Smartphone. A more sophisticated gadget than mine.
---not yet decided as to whether he would buy it.
Off we went to the station to catch the metro for another event...^^